Re: More radio station fee BS

[halley!halley.mp3!watson@cs.utexas.edu (William Watson)]

>>> [|>oug:] If you copyright a piece of music, you must allow it
>>> to be played on non-profit radio, where you get no royalties and
>>> where any listener can legally copy the work off of the airwaves
>>> and listen to as much as they want to, without you receiving a cent.

>> [William Watson:] This is not the case, at least in the US.
>> Non-commercial radio stations pay fees to ASCAP and BMI, just like
>> commercial stations, restaraunts, and clubs.  

> [|>oug:] Wrongo!  I can't speak for all non-profit stations, since there may
> be different classifications of non-profit stations, but I used to be a
> DJ on a major college radio station and we payed nothing to no one.
> No royalties were received by anyone for anything we played on the air.
> This was certainly legal and intended by the copyright law and the FCC.

|>oug, I used to the Chief Engineer, and heavily involved in the management
of KTRU in Houston.  This station is licensed to Rice University.  The
University music school payed the fees, which also covered any concerts
given by the band and music students.  I certainly cannot speak for the
writers of the copyright laws, but in my limited understanding, playing
music on the radio constitutes public performance, and so a fee must be
paid to the writer of the music.  I may be wrong, but I think not.

William

P.S.  The different classification of non-commercial stations have to do
with limits on transmitter power, and have nothing at all to do with
whether or not one pays royalties.  In fact, I am not sure that the FCC
has anything at all to do with rolyalties.